


Nagito Koimada

by JapanbyTotoro



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Angst, Crack Treated Seriously, Curses, DOESNT ACTUALLY HAPPEN IN DETAIL, Dirty Jokes, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fish Nagito Komeada, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I did some research but I’m definitely wrong with some areas, If Miu’s jokes made you uncomfortable then this fic probably won’t be any better, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Sex, Inaccurate fish anatomy(?), It’s not textbook myths. It has its own mythos lore, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Komaeda Nagito Being Komaeda Nagito, Komaeda Nagito's Luck Cycle, M/M, Magic Realisim, Not that accurate though, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Requited Love, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Unsubtle symbolism, eventually, everyone kinda has a dirty mouth in this story, it is heavily based off of Japanese myths but like, it’s not as bad by any means but it’s a good limit, like this is heavily based off the luck cycle, sorta - Freeform, this entire fic is based off of a tik tok account
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:46:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27225244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JapanbyTotoro/pseuds/JapanbyTotoro
Summary: "You're a real shit conversation partner. At least Chiaki commentates on my woes."Komaeda didn't respond. In fact, their entire body seemed to still in water."You're a real fucking weirdo you know? A weird fucking fish. Big fat fucking fish."
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Nanami Chiaki, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Kamukura Izuru & Komaeda Nagito, Kamukura Izuru/Komaeda Nagito, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 40
Kudos: 111





	1. Travel

**Author's Note:**

> Please read tags for tws. Oh also this is unbetad so it SUCKS grammar wise. I hope I got everything I wanted across though. Will edit over time.

Soul searching never felt like something Hajime would ever find himself indulging in, at least not in his youth.

He was a freshly turned 20 year old, with a small ordinary apartment and and even more ordinary job. Every week he'd stumble out of bed, shrug on the same uncomfortable plain suit jacket, walk to the office, leave with a knot in his back and a frown on his lips, before sleeping.

However. Not everything about his life was "ordinary".

The people in his life were far from it.

High collared, rich, famous, exciting, and adventurous people seemed to gravitate towards him. Not a single close friend didn't have some sort of expedition planned every week, and not a single one seem to have the same pattern he did.

Concerts, balls, meetings with the prime minister of some country he's never heard of. It all mixed together into a bleary dark color. He almost felt as if he would feel better with much more average people in his life.

Maybe the knowledge that he isn't the only person wasting his life away on a mediocre safe strategy would've made it easier to lie to himself that this is what he wanted.

It wasn't like Hajime wasn't offered to join them. In fact, they did whenever a second position was available. But almost every time he rejected it in favor for work.

It felt so wrong to just piggy back people like that. As much as he enjoys those events or watching his friends show off their talents in life, he knew he didn't really deserve to watch them do so. It wasn't his place to enjoy it at the end of the day.

After a year in this loop, Hajime found himself staring at the undecorated wall across from him. His feet kneaded into the carpet beneath him with water droplets from his shower trailing down his forehead.

He kept staring until the flash of realization crackled across his mind.

Hajime was bored.

Incredibly so.

His life has been nothing but a steady wave for months now. He has even played it safe with the foods he ate, opting for bland healthy tasteless things that he could make quick in favor for take out. For what felt like forever, Hajime somehow managed to run himself into a rut in a road, and he was stuck.

He had to leave this place. This city. He could feel his inner mind claw and scratch at his skin as he rested his head to the side.

It was a prison at this rate. The street he always sprinted down on weekend mornings felt like a treadmill. The bus he took every work day was like a barreling cage and the office was like slave labor at this rate.

It was exhausting. It was painful. Especially with the knowledge that his life was supposed to be a lot more then just...this.

And that's why Hajime did the most out of character thing he's done in literal years.

He left his comfort zone.

The male stuffed as much clothes as he could into a never used suit case, stuffing his savings in his worn thin wallet. He took out his notebook full of information about the company's clients and projectsand carefully placed it into a backpack.

He called up a house sitter's number from a random sticky note he found on his fridge that he's probably only used once. He even dragged out a small folder full of tourist pamphlets and shuffled through them for inspiration for his next move.

Hajime laid his laptop on his lap. His fingers seemed to glide across the keyboard at a speed he didn't even knew he could manage with how gingerly he normally acted around his higher ups.

He didn't even wait for the email to finish sending or to reread the short paragraph typed up. Hajime clicked open a new tab and began searching.

Ads for huge tourist traps or expensive getaways were the first to show up. Their flashy advertisements simply deterred him from clicking it. He's been to them all before when he was younger, and he'd rather not spend his time off in a place full of underaged drunks andoverpriced souvenirs.

He needed a place that was something he's never been to before. A place that was small and quaint yet interesting. But not interesting enough to attract people.

After hours of staring at the burning white search engine of his computer, he decided to take a much more traditional route of shuffling through pamphlets that he's gathered from various travel centers out of interest.

Almost of them were more cheesier then the last. A few even sexual in nature, hinting at things Hajime would much rather not think about. Finally, the small stack ended with a worn, torn, and frankly plain one. A symbol was stamped in the center, the gentle curvature of each stroke seemed to crawl out the edge of the circle drawn around it.

希

"Hope"

A single kanji was all the cover page had to offer, completely different then the colorful glossy pages of the other ones.

He furrowed his eyebrows, flipping it from its front to its back. It was thinner then the rest as well, rough and used. Coffee stains splatter across the sides, like it's been used as a coaster once too many times.

I've never seen this before.....

He tilted his head. Maybe it was some sort of flyer passed out by a nun that he grabbed out of pity? Was it some sort of donation request? Junk mail?

Gingerly, he peeled it open to be greeted by the surprisingly bright photographs planted on each page.

"A town that withstands time! Visit us at Unmei Village, perfect for experiencing traditional Japan personally."

Despite the incredibly strange cover, it was still a standard tourist pamphlet. It was still muted then the rest, the words barely legible.

The picture were almost just as faded as well, but still clear enough for him to study.

It was basic. Pictures of old people working in fields was mostly the focus. Small glimpses of other buildings were shown as well. But the most tasteful part was the small koi fish drawn on the sides of the paper, with a small note of the incredible art history of the village.

It was simple. Judging by the strange un eye-catching cover, it certainly wasn't trying to aim for people his age. It probably was supposed to appeal to the elderly who simply wanted a getaway from the loud city.

As embarrassing as it was to admit, Hajime swept away the others and began to memorize the directions on the side sleeve, calculating the train ticket costs in his head.

And with that, Hajime found himself in front of the smallest rural town he's every seen.

It was a miracle the place even had a train station nearby. Or even any evidence outside of it that the small community existed.

The entrance was incredibly traditional to say the least. Smooth red painted wood arched across the stone pathway, with small distinct jade green accents on the edges. Japanese kanji that was so old, so blurred, that Hajime couldn't even read it bled into worn talismans strapped to the sides. Birds chirped without fear of being scared off and the distinct sound of rushing water hummed in the distance.

He felt like he was intruding on something. That somebody who lived in the exact opposite environment was going to taint it with a small cloud of city smog that would trail behind him.

Yet the birds continued to chirp and the water continued its everlasting loop across what probably was a river with even more of the same aura of purity and un-disturbance.

It was an odd choice for soul seeking, but it definitely was a place for someone who wanted the exact opposite then the purgatory he was stuck in. The natural clean air filling his lungs was so crisp, painfully different from what he was used too.

Pushing away the intruding thoughts poking at his brain, Hajime shrugged himself past the arch and onto the rugged pathway.

Walking in felt like he was stepping into a completely different world.

Instead of hundreds of people bustling down the streets with not a single one lending acknowledgment to the world, he was greeted with the sight of a small elderly couple speaking in hushed tones with eachother as they pushed a cart full of some sort of vegetable.

They looked up from the conversation and offered him a wave and a smile along with an exclamatory greeting before returning to chatter.

The stone was shaded from the trees above that twisted and intertwined with others like untamed braids. Incredibly traditional buildings that curved upwards towards the sky in stacks adorned the edges of every carefully paved path.

It was practically dead silent besides the soft ringing of wind chimes from what looked to be an open air restaurant a few large strides away from him.

Unlit paper lanterns strew across each towering structure, with drying clothes squeezed in by some open windows. The atmosphere no longer felt as thick or as suffocating as it was when he stood in front of the arch. Almost like stepping through filtered away his senses and left him rubbed raw by the strange foreign place in front of him.

From the little information the internet had about the town that he researched on the way there, he gathered that there was luckily an inn nearby. There wasn't any instructions from what he could see, but the pictures described always showed it. The building seemed to be one of the more well taken care of place, because it was one of the only things shown.

He did catch of a glimpse of a few restaurants in the background but nothing was more photographed then that hotel. Or more specially, the massive pond in front of it.

Dragging his suitcase across the cracked patches, he simply followed the simplistic signs pointing north, with a small but legible 'inn' carved into its surface.

Despite the town being relatively unknown, it was unexpectedly vast. The steep staircases that made his body shake slightly under the atmosphere poked sores at the bottom of his feet. His causal exercise attire seemed to become clogged with heat even with the shade above.

Finally, he escaped the shadows and onto flat land. A gentle cooing river hummed down a small hill in the distance, with trees curving into it. It was all decently spaced out, the only thing even keeping it all together was a bridge that stretched over the mini waterfall besides it that led to what probably was some sort of plumbing system.

Though the bridge looked old, it didn't even grunt under the weight of Hajime and his things. The gentle tapping and skipping sound of the suitcase behind him was the only trail he let himself leave behind.

The bridge led to a massive building, though only large in length then width. It was clearly much more updated then the other parts of the town, the small truck parked adjacent to the entrance was enough to say that. The paint looked recently done, the bright reds and greens much more like the entrance arch he saw earlier.

A large sign post was besides him. Its much more modest appearance completely contrasted with everything else around it.

It was the final directional land mark, the carved arrow pointing directly in front of him.

So this was it, right?

He crossed the much more well done paved pathway that lead to it, letting his eyes wander across the front yard.

Most of it was well trimmed bushes and flowers, nothing that really caught his eye really. In fact, most of it seemed placed and organized in a way like it was more or less of an accent then an actual garden. When he finally was close enough to make out the entrance, he noticed a rather large pond.

He glanced down the crystal blue waters. The Lilly pads and greenery was impressively well taken care of. Even the stones that laid at the bottom of the pool looked cleaned to a shine. It was gorgeous but....he couldn't help but to feel as if it was missing something.

This was a koi pond right? The thing that was practically the main advertisement of the entire town?

Then where was the koi?

Hajime furrowed his eyebrows and propped his suitcase against a large stone and walked further down the short dock. There was no sign of life beside a few bugs flitting from plant to plant. And most definitely no koi.

He dropped to his knees and leaned further in. Maybe it was underneath the dock? He peered closer and closer against the water's surface. It was a lot deeper than expected, the large pebbles at the bottom becoming much smaller and distant the closer he looked in. Hajime had to grip the edge of the boardwalk to keep balance, shifting every few moments against the hard wood.

His nose was almost touching the surface, the deep smell of nature infiltrating his systems.

Despite still being dry, it felt like he was dunked underwater. His ears were clouded and numb, barely catching the sound of everything around him. His breaths felt shortened, but not enough for him to heave or choke, just enough for him to notice the sudden difference.

His eyes unfocused as everything in the pool swirled. Hajime was getting light headed from hanging nearly upside down for so long. He searched around, his mouth pursed into a much deeper frown then before.

"I guess it was false advertising," He mumbled, pushing himself up, "How disappointing—"

Hello?

Hajime screeched in shock, flinging himself back onto the dock. His back violently slammed against it, making the entire structure shudder. A low whimper escaped his lips as he sat up. Rubbing the sore soon to be bruise at the bottom of his back, he widely whipped around for the person that he embarrassed himself in front of.

Nobody was there. The inn's door behind him remained close, and everything else remained undisturbed. The only difference was his suitcase was tipped overit's spot at the rock.

Did I imagine it? Hajime scanned the area again. Still, no sign of a single person.

"I'm losing it, huh," He sighed. Maybe being in this town was more damage then repair.

A flash of white skipped across his eyes.

Hajime widened at the sight of what was in front of him.

It was a koi, a single one. It's scales were almost glowing under the glimmering sunlight that danced on the water. Unlike other fish he's seen, it's eyes weren't completely dark. In fact, they were a cloudy stormy grey. Almost green even. The ripples across its spine was hypnotizing, and the splotches of black and orange only seemed the empathize that.

It was a gorgeous fish. Even somebody who really couldn't care less about them like Hajime could see that. But that wasn't what his mind focused on first.

It was the biggest fucking fish he's ever seen.

It had to be the size of his arm, no, probably even his torso and legs. With every slight movement it made, it seemed to make the entire pond shake with how large it was. How didn't he see it before? Where the hell did it come from?

It was staring at him. Or whatever was the fish equivalent of staring. It's massive head was hovering above water, which he's sure isn't exactly a natural thing for a fish to do. The gills against its neck flexes in and out, as if it was somehow breathing above water.

Frankly, the creature in front of him was much more terrifying then it was beautiful.

He found himself in a short stare off before a rough voice interrupted. The koi in front of him quickly swam away.

"I've see you've met Komada?" An old man spoke from behind. He was wearing strangely intricate work clothes, deep red fabric tied into a knot at the front with a half done yukata hybrid of sorts.

"It has a name?!"

He chuckled, shaking his head. They stumbled besides him, clicking his tongue.

"It's a he actually, but I understand your shock."

Hajime kissed behind us teeth, his eyes flickering from between the pond and the old man.

"He actually doesn't take that well for visitors. At least from the very few we've gotten," He chirped. He stood besides Hajime with a toothy grin.

"I should introduce myself. My name is Nishin, everyone in this town calls me Mr. Nishin," Hajime only half listened to him, his eyes still focused on the pond. He knew it was rude, but his mind couldn't kept nagging at the sight of that strange animal.

After a few silent moments, Hinata finally jerked himself from his thoughts.

"Uhm. Hajime. I'm, I mean my name is Hajime Hinata," The words tumbled out crudely. He inwardly smacked himself for how his voice cracked at the end.

"You must be still thinking about Koemada I presume, I don't blame you, quite a looker eh?" Nishin looked wistfully across the lake, "He's the pride and joy of this here inn. I have the pleasure of taking care of him."

He slowly stood up from his kneeled position, studying the water's surface from above.

"Yeah. It's—I mean. He's massive. Really big. How did he get that large?"

To his surprise, the old man snickered. Hinata looked at him with confusion.

Was he...Laughing at him?

"Oh it's not about you at all," He shook his head as if he was reading his mind, "I'm just thinking about how I thought the same thing we first moved him here to this lake when I was a kid. Poor thing couldn't be any bigger then the palm of your hand. And now look at em'."

_I guess that makes sense if he's been here for a while._

Wait—

"Uhm....How old is he?"

The old man scratched his head,

"I'm not sure. Probably... Sixty something? He was full grown when we first got him so he might be much older actually. But I'm sure it's been sixty since we got him."

"Excuse me?"

But the old man was already walking away from the dock, into the garden far from his sight.

60 plus years? Was that even possible for a fish? Or for a such a large koi that lived in a captive pond? It didn't make any sense. Hajime stare was blank as he stared across the fields. The old man, Ninnin or whatever must've gone senile. Maybe he planted some sort of drug patch on his neck while he wasn't looking and was playing some pathetic prank.

Hajime sighed, letting the tension leave his body. Giant koi aside, this was supposed to be a getaway of sorts. He didn't have time to get tangled up in some conspiracy with himself.

Gathering his suitcase from its place beside the stone, he hiked towards the entrance of the inn.

——-

Walking in, he immediately noticed the distinct smell of jade and some sort of meat being cooked. The edges of his eyes stung slightly as he slowly walked in, surprised at the much calmer choice of colors compared to the outside.

"Welcome to Jabberwock inn!" A female voice greeted him. She was much younger than everyone else he saw. The woman couldn't be any older then 18. Her enthusiastic and incredibly energetic attitude nearly gave him whiplash.

She stood behind the counter wearing a pretty simplistic outfit. They wore purple T-shirt with some logo he didn't recognize along with some sliver hair pins that folded back her light blonde hair. Squinting his eyes, he could see a name tag reading 'Akamatsu'.

Everyone here seems to have a divergent taste in clothes Hajime noted as he made his way to the reception.

"Hello, I'd like to book a room here for...." He trailed off in thought. "I guess, two weeks?"

Hajime waited for a price, but none came.

"Oh! I forgot. You're clearly are a tourist," She chirped, "The first month here at the in is actually free! You can pay after that though."

"What?" Hajime blanked for a second, "an entire month? Isn't that a bit....bad for business.

She giggled. This girl laughed too much, it was making him nervous.

"Well it's not like we advertise it for that reason, but this place is actually more of a... reverse retirement home of sorts. It's paid by the government to be more specific. Probably because it's actually a big part of history."

"That's not how taxes work..."

"Yeah. Probably. This isn't even a business huh?"

"You honestly don't care, do you?"

"Nope," She popped the p loudly, looking already quite bored with the subject. Akamatsu then tilted her head, "So....You're here for a while huh? What for? Business? Travel?"

Hajime inwardly sighed. Maybe asking a carefree receptionist about business specification wasnt the smartest move he could've made. They clearly don't care or don't know. He guesses along as he gets the month free, asking too much was going to be a pain in the ass.

He spoke up to respond but was quickly interrupted.

"Bah, enough about that causal talk. I saw that you took an interest in the koi pool outside! Or I more or less saw you leave it. The trees sorta block my view from it," She bent down from his vision and began shuffling through some papers. After a triumphant noise, she peaked up again with a parchment in hand.

"Every summer, we hold a festival prepared by everyone in town!" Akamatsu slid it towards him in earnest, "If you liked our pond so much, you can try catching one for your own! It's the only time when you can take one. Though I have to warn you, it's actually quite hard. I can't tell you the amount of times I failed."

She laughed at her own joke, but Hajime ignored it in favor of scanning the info card in front of him.

"So...Wait," Hajime frowned, "You can catch

Komaeda?"

"Wh-" Her eyes widened as if he suggested commuting arson at the festival instead. She quickly waved her hand in front of herself as if she was trying to brush away his question entirely, "No! Of course not. He's off limits, everyone would go crazy if he disappeared."

"But there's no other koi out there?"

"Are you sure? There had to be like twenty koi this morning, that's what the caretaker told me—"

"Nope, just him. The big one."

Akamatsu groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her cherry mood seemed to drizzle out as she began to speak.

"He lied again huh? I thought he'd quit that after being days clean now," She folded her hands in front of herself.

"What happened to them.....? Does the caretaker catch them for himself or something?" It didn't seem exactly out of character from what little he knew of that Ninshin character.

"No. Komaeda probably ate them like he usually does."

"He WHAT?"

She continued as if what she wasn't strange at all, "Yeah, he does that a lot. We feed him plenty but it's never enough. Apparently. He's a very big fish, needs a lot of food I guess. But he hasn't ever gotten sick from it so it's fine."

Hajime stared at her in disbelief.

"You get used to things like that if you've lived here long enough," Akamatsu raised an eyebrow, "He's kinda special."

She took Hajime's silence to continue

"Sorry I'm not that helpful. I've sorta lived here all my life, stuff like this isn't that weird to me," Her apology sounded awfully genuine, a complete contrast to her previous lack of empathy.

"It's fine. Thank you," She finally returned to her grin and popped open a large book.

"So you said you were staying for two weeks for sure? One of our bigger rooms are available. Perfect for long stays like this."

"Yeah I'll take that," As if he had a choice.

Akamatsu gave him a short nod before turning towards the staircase besides them.

"Saihara! We have a guest that needs escorting!"

Nobody responded.

"Saiiiiihaaaaaraaaaaa!" She crowed again.

Still, no response.

"He's probably can't hear me because he's listening to music," She sighed, "He hasn't had at least one earbud in since he got them."

Akamatsu took a deep breath and a much terser tone.

"SHUICHI! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE OR IM SHOWING OUR ESTEEMED GUEST PICTURES OF YOUR—"

A boy quickly tumbled down the staircase, panting loudly as he did so. He looked to be the same age as the girl, if not older. They wore a loose long sleeved sweater, dark blue with the same strange logo on the front.

"Kaede—I heard you the first two times. You know the bathrooms are halfway across the building. It takes a long time to get to the lobby," He keeled over and heaved, taking gasping breaths. Hajime would've asked if he was okay if Akamstsu didn't look so calm.

"Yeah, you're right. I did know that. I just wanted to test if your training with Kaito was working. And it is! I'm sure you wouldn't passed out on the way."

"You couldn't—ngh —asked me normally?"

"Nah."

The poor boy was ignored as she turned away from him. He shouldn't be too worried because the boy was making a rather quick recovery.

"Well then Shumai," they flinched, "We have a guest! Please take him to....." She trailed off, flipping through the pages rapidly before pausing, "The Bikini suite!"

Hajime gave her a strange look.

"I know, it's a weird name but it stuck."

Deciding that Akamatsu wasn't the best at detailed answering at that moment, he quickly picked up the handle of his suitcase and stumbled towards who he assumed was named Saihara.

He was much quieter then his counter part in the lobby, saying nothing as he led him up the stairs with ease.

They made rather long strides across the hallways, seemingly anxious to hurry and leave Hinata to his own sources. After a few more moments, they finally stood in front a finely done screen sliding door.

"Ah, this is your room," He slid the door back, revealing a wooden wall with a keyhole. Slipping a key that they got from his pocket, he then pushed it aside to show the suite.

"We don't serve breakfast, but we do serve lunch sometimes. You'll get a notice if that's ever the case. Uh...You can order food but only on weekdays. Our chef is sorta busy on weekends with other errands," He listed off several other specifications. The tension from his body seemed to rise the more he spoke.

"And also, if you're of age. We also have alcohol. Since Kaede and I can't really serve that stuff legally—"

So they are teenagers then.

"—We do have an of age waiter available. But sometimes he takes a while. We've had complaints about that but I don't think he. Well. Cares. So I normally take it up to the guests. But I call him up first though."

Hajime nodded his head and tried giving them what he hoped was a encouraging smile. He could see how his eyes would anxiously dart away from him to the nearby wall, clearly wanted out from the conversation.

"And uhm. I've been told our stuff is actually quite strong. I haven't ever tried so... I can't really say for myself. Just a warning though."

"Don't worry, I don't drink often," He adjusted the strap of his backpack, "It shouldn't be that much trouble."

Saihara nodded, "We don't have a call system installed here because the buildings kinda outdated electronic wise. So if you need anything, there's usually somebody downstairs that can help you."

"Thank you. I'll be sure to do that if I have any questions. You can go now."

He looked relieved to finally be dismissed, quickly going down the hallway to the second staircase to what he assumed was the bathrooms to clean.

Hajime sighed and entered his room.

——-

As soon as he got inside, he quickly unpacked his things. Organizing his clothes by day, placing his toiletries on top of a vain toy across the room, and folding out the futon rolled up in the corner.

After the few short errands, he finally collapsed non the ground, and opened his phone. There wasn't any wifi, not surprising at all, but he was able to get quite a strong signal with his data. He quickly told his friends about his sudden impulse trip, each message explain why feeling shorter then the last.

He got responses immediately. They varied from mild shock or enthusiasm from the news. Even a few monotone ones from Peko and Chiaki.

Laughing to himself from a picture Ibuki sent, he caught himself frowning.

Why was he so upset? What was he expecting? They were all really supportive people. Of course they wouldn't mind if he was on a vacation. If anything, they probably were happy that he was taking time off judging from their concerned comments of 'workaholic.'

Yet.

The almost depressed atmosphere seemed to drown him.

Did he want his friends to be upset? Want him back in the city? Want him to stay in that tired loop he was running himself around?

Hajime felt hot shame at the realization.

The answer was yes. He did that. He wanted attention. At the end of the day, Hajime was the most childish person he knew.

But it doesn't matter why exactly he came here, all that mattered was that he was here now, strapped in this strange town for a week in a half ass backwards inn that doesn't make any sense. With a massive fish that probably could eat Hinata if he came by too close.

All that mattered was that this was a vacation. Sorta a vacation. His sudden leave meant he had a few unfinished documents to patch up, but after that, he was free to do whatever the hell he wanted.

He came here to relax. To not think. To just exist. He didn't come here to do the opposite of that.

He laid his back against the cool wooden floor, taking practiced breaths. He felt tired and worn. Yet..........

He couldn't fucking sleep.

Was it the realization that he spent around a hundred yen in a train ticket partially because he was obnoxious selfish? Maybe, but something nagged him even more. Something much more surprising.

That fucking fish.

Out of everything, that fucking thing seemed to live in his mind rent free.

It wasn't just because it was huge, Hinata is sure he would've noticed it if it was an average sized koi. The main thing was its eyes. It was so utterly human. The stormy grey pallets and it's almost quivering pupils. The way it stared at him from across the pond was so strange and so very unnerving. It was like it was trying to catch his eye, despite having it as soon as it broke surface.

Do fish even stay above water that long? He knew koi sometimes came up head first, but only for a second. Surely not for the probable minutes he spent in a staring contest with it.

Maybe it was inbred or something. No well in hell a koi having eyes like that is the work of nature alone. He was probably poking at an animal that was suffering many diseases and probably on the brink of dying.

He groaned inwards. If Gundham was here, he'd probably beat the shit out of him for thinking like this. Still, he still couldn't stop mentally studying his thoughts about that fish. Hajime simply couldn't stop thinking about it.

Letting out a strangled noise, he flipped onto his stomach on the futon. He stuffed his nose into the pillow, hoping to god sleep took him in as their mistress, just for a few minutes.

Hajime luckily felt his vision fade out into inky blackness, the only cohesive thought was of a pair of stormy grey eyes that looked like they did not belong.

——-

Groggily, he pulled his face from the pillow below him. His pants clung to his body and his shirt seemed to choke out his neck. Turning on his phone he glanced at the time.

10:00 pm

Was he asleep for that long?

Hajime rubbed at his eyes slowly sitting up. It wasn't that surprising consider the strenuous travel he went through from the past few hours but he was hoping he had a little bit of restraint when it came to sleeping.

He nervously looked around the now dark room, observing the moonlight that trickled from a cracked window.

A notification rang from his phone. He flickered the screen on, only reading a single message pop up.

Chiaki

Call me, I'm finally back from the con.

He sighed in relief before switching to his laptop beside him.

He rummaged around his applications before finding her contact listed below only a handful of other people. Hajime flattened down his bed hair and tried to look like he didn't just wake up from a several hour nap.

After a few moments of them connecting, Chiaki's neutral expression finally pulled up.

"I still can't believe you don't have Discord, even after everything I've told you about."

"I'm just used to Skype," Hajime replied, feeling a slight warmth bloom in his chest at the familiar banter, "I'm not relearning a messaging system just to call you, you know."

"It's a calling app. Not an entirely new language."

"Might as well be."

The comfortable silence between them filled the empty air. He could hear the clicking of the hand hold console she was fiddling with. Even in conversations like this, she some how managed to always use it whenever possible.

"How was the con?"

"It was okay," she murmured. Her fingers got much more frantic then usual as her eyebrows furrowed.

She must be at some sort of boss at this point.

He mused, watching the flashing colors reflect against her eyes.

"They wanted me on a lot of panels but I only went to three—" She continued before letting out a small smile of victory when a triumphant noise rang from the device, "—As flattering as it is, I don't think I'm needed at stuff that star games I'm not even that fond of."

"Mm," Hajime let out a small noise of acknowledgment.

"Enough about my day. It's actually sorta boring," Chiaki put down her console to his surprise, "Are you okay?"

"Excuse me?"

"Like are you okay. Mentally."

Hajime blinked a few times, slightly startled at her sudden concern.

"I mean yeah. I'm just a bit overworked."

"Can you blame me for worrying? You aren't exactly the travel type," She spoke in a low voice as if she didn't want anyone else to hear, "The only reason why everyone else isn't kicking down your door right now is because none of them are really the best people readers out there."

Hajime looked away. Chiaki's piercing eyes always got the best of him at the end of the day.

"I just wanted a change," He said trufully, "I guess. I was just really bored with life. At least mine. I thought a sudden change would help."

"I understand. I was like that before I started using social media," She trailed off, glancing at the console below her as if she was itching to turn it back on, "It really is just a loop until you make that jump."

Another comfortable silence, this time Chiaki's clicking not filling the quietness between them. It looked as if she was trying to come up with a way to phrase a question, but couldn't exactly let it out.

"Where are you at? You didn't say in the text you sent," Hajime was surprised he didn't mention it at least once, his massive paragraph to Chiaki was the first to go out, knowing she'd probably be the most stickler for details

"Uhm. Unmei village I think is the name."

"A village? A bit exotic for someone like you."

Hajime couldn't tell if he should feel offended by that comment or not, so he just ignored it.

"Yeah. It's really weird. Everyone here is super carefree and not that strict. I think somebody like Gundham or Sonia would love it here. It's really...." He waved his hands around, "Historical?"

Chiaki nodded, folding her hands under her chin. She looked interested, or at least as interested as somebody like Chiaki could look, so he continued.

"I'm at this really nice inn. And get this, it's free. For an entire month. I can stay here for an entire month with no pay. It's crazy right?"

Hajime was completely caught up in his description that he didn't even realize that Chiaki's expression slowly turned into heavy concern.

"—And there's this koi pond out front. And it's just. Empty besides from this massive fish. It's huge. And crazy for that matter. It actually eats other koi. It's kinda gross actually. And—"

Chiaki interrupted, her concern now seeping into her usual monotone voice.

"Hajime, are you sure this isn't a scam?"

"Huh?"

"Doesn't it seem a little too easy? A village that's barely populated, an inn that lets you stay for free, an inn that's supposedly paid for by the government and ran by teenagers?"

"Well...Not all teenagers. They did mention somebody was at least 21 that worked here to handle the bar."

"Still. The fact that they're letting young people run a heavily paid for government funded business that isn't even that popular is suspicious and weird."

"Are you saying that this is some sort of elaborate money grabbing situation?"

"No. But I am suggesting that you should be careful. I hope you just got lucky, but I really doubt something this amazing could happen without some sort of repercussion. It's always like that in cases with extreme luck."

"I guess that makes sense."

"It should. It's common logic. Something I'm sure you fail to comprehend, Mr. I-Got-a-40-on-a-basic-geography-test."

"When I was in 8th grade."

"Still."

"Well, I'm going to get dinner now, I'll try calling you when land tomorrow. That is, if jet lag doesn't get you first."

She waved instead of responding, still lost in thought. Hajime dragged his mouse towards the end call button.

"Oh also Hajime."

"Huh?"

"For a vacation get away, you sure are stressed."

Before he could end the call, Chiaki disconnected. A few moments later his phone began ringing from several text notifications.

**Chiaki**

_dude I didn't want to bring this up on vc because u get super defensive and u always seem to get the point better if you just read it but_

_wait a sec I got takeout_

**Hajime**

_What do you mean defensive?_

**Chiaki**

_u always make excuses when ur heated in the moment_

_like_

_u process things better through typed stuff idk_

_But_

**Hajime**

_But?_

**Chiaki**

_Ur dumb_

_I can see u typing, lemme explain first_

_ur all winded up over work. U even brought ur work notes with u, I saw it in the background._

_we used to be co-workers. You can't hide that from me_

**Hajime**

_Of course I'm "winded up". A lot has been happening, I mentioned it to you before right?_

**Chiaki**

_Yea you did but_

_You don't do final moment suggestions like that. U know? u think a lot before acting. Almost too much. unless like, it's an emotional related thingy. Then ur stupid_

_Stop typing I'm not done._

_What I'm trying to say is that i hope whatever ur not telling me gets better. I kno u didn't just randomly decide to use ur vacation days and not mention it to mo_

_*me_

**Hajime**

_Good night. Chiaki._

She stopped typing entirely after that message, simply leaving him on read. Bitterly, he tossed his phone across the room. To his dissatisfaction, it weakly bounced against the floor, landing with a thump.

He humphed, rubbing his eyes again, shielding it from the blaring lamp light.

Hajime always forgot how utterly observant she was. It was the main reason why she thrives when it came to video games. Her constantly studying eye and photographic memory was impressive as hell. Not only could she read computers well, she could also read people with terrifying accuracy, though she did struggle with communicating with them.

However, he still found himself grumbling under his breath in annoyance.

He was fine. He was okay. Nothing more, nothing less.

But still.........

Hajime glanced at his discarded phone. Not any more notifications rang out. Chiaki probably saw his message as a sign to stop psycho analyzing him. She didn't understand social cues that well, so she could've took it the wrong way.

After a few moments of reliving the call that happened, he finally stood up. If Chiaki was right about one thing, it was how he definitely thought more about physical then emotional actions.

He stepped carefully down the stairs, into the lobby. Hajime shuffled down to the receptionist desk. It was empty. The only sign that anybody could be at it was the sound of a pen scribbling against paper.

"Uhm," He peered over the desk, trying to find the source of the noise. Hajime was greeted by the top of a very short person of what he assumed was a man, "Hello?"

They didn't respond. Instead, the writing noise seemed to increase, as to drown out his words.

"Hajime?" He whipped around to see Akamatsu giving him a worried glance. She was wearing night clothes, like she just woke up. Her hair clips still pinned her bangs back however.

"Did you need anything?"

"Oh uhm. Alcohol. I was wondering if I could have a bottle sent up to my room?"

"Saihara told you that we had alcohol?" She frowned, "We hadn't served that in like forever here. I'll have a word with him."

"Huh? But he—" Akamatsu interrupted him.

"I'm sorry but we don't. I'll have a word with him," She repeated slowly. Her eyes shifting to the side to the receptionist desk.

"Right Hoshi?"

Whoever she was trying to talk to grunted.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding."

Hajime watched her scurry off through a door, clicking it shut behind her.

"You know, he doesn't even live here. I don't know why she said that," A low voice rumbled from beside him.

An incredibly short man was there. They had to be around 3 foot, maybe even less. He wore deep black leather jacket and blue stripe sweater hiding underneath. The same hair he saw from before was cut into a sharp clean peachy crown.

"You said you wanted alcohol right? Well," The man pointed to the reception desk behind him, "What kind?"

"I thought you didn't sell alcohol—"

"We do. Shuichi told you that, right?"

"But she said you didn't sell alcohol."

"We sell alcohol. Do you wanna play this charade all day or do you want a bottle?"

"A bottle is a bit m—" He didn't get to finish his sentence before a rather large object was roughly shoved in front of him.

"It's sake," They explained, shaking it. He watched as the clear liquid inside swam around, "Not too ripe but not stale."

"That's nice and all but I was hoping for something like beer?" They didn't say anything back, they just got back behind the receptionist desk. The scribbling noises then soon returned.

"If you bring that bottle up to your room, I'll break your neck," Hajime widened his eyes, "Dump it in the recycling when you're done. Be decent please. Any extra alcohol can be poured out into the dirt or something. Dump it in the pond and I guarantee your body will never be found."

Without a single word in reply, he practically ran outside.

——-

"Short shit motherfucker."

He couldn't believe it. He simply couldn't. He got fucking intimidated by a fucking midget.

Hajime slurred his words together, his face bright red with a mix of drunkenness and anger. He slammed his bottle down against the dock, watching the liquid swirl around.

"Crazy right? Unbelievable."

He normally could handle his alcohol pretty well, but his clogged emotional bowels seemed to over flow the more sips he took.

"You're a real shit conversation partner. At least Chiaki commentates on my woes."

Komaeda didn't respond. In fact, their entire body seemed to still in water.

"You're a real fucking weirdo you know? A weird fucking fish. Big fat fucking fish."

Again. No response.

Hajime rolled up his sleeves and pants with the hand that wasn't gripping on the bottle for dear life. He then off-handily kicked water towards the fish in front of him.

They didn't even swim away. They just stared at him with the same creepy, unwavering gaze.

He kicked more water towards it, the chilly droplets licking the sides of his face.

"What would my friends say about me now. Talking to a fish," He murmured. It was barely audible, even to himself. His eyes felt heavy and watery. How pathetic. He was going to bore himself to tears with his same ramblings.

"Boring," He ended up saying out loud.

Komeada twitched at that, it's flippers speeding up its circular pattern.

"Whats gotten you so worked u—SHIT!"

Hajime screeched as the koi bolted ahead, directly at his leg. It's deep gaping mouth dug into his calf, dragging him down.

He failed wildly, whacking the air around him to gain balance. The sudden attack caught him off guard, making Komeada easily win the short lived struggle.

With a loud splash, his head was thrusted underwater before he quickly pushed himself up. It was shallow enough for him to stand waist deep, but the damage was already done. The cold liquid seemed to sober him on impact.

The anger seem to melt away for a second as he stared at his assaulter. He didn't have quite enough to focus before he realized.

"H-Hey! Those are—" A glimmer sparkled from the koi's mouth. The rage quickly returned at full throttle.

"THOSE ARE MY KEYS!"

Before the fish could react, he lurched forward, latching onto its fins. Unsurprisingly, it didn't go down without a fight. It's powerful tail slapped the side of his face, leaving a bruise to accompany the one from earlier.

After a few minutes of pure struggle, he finally to wrangled it into a position under his arm to reach the key.

"AHA! Gotcha," He grinned. However, before he could grab the key from its mouth, it quicklydisappeared behind the folds.

Time seemed to slow down as he saw it sink between it's lips.

"No," He said quietly at first before his heart rate spikes, "No fucking way."

He didn't think before acting this time, no longer caring for the fish's well-being. Hajime flipped it headfirst into the water and began to viciously squeeze at its head, feeling to hard shape of the key still inside the koi.

"Nononono, you did not just do that."

The fish was surprisingly limp in his arms he flipped it side to side, watching it swallow. A small lump that was probably most definitely his hotel key disappeared into the vast body of fishy guts.

He inwardly screamed, his frantic attempts seeming to quicken. Hajime shoved it back underwater for a better grip as he felt up and down its scales. Komeda didn't even twitch in irritation. The only sign it was even alive was rising and lowering ribs and the twitching gills.

"Oh my fucking god you did not just eat my fucking keys," Hinata burried his hands against his eyes, the realization hitting him harder with every second.

He wasn't even supposed to be in the damn pond yet here he was. Not only was he touching the proclaimed "jewel" of the town, but accidentally fed it a piece of metal. While this monster could eat its own kind, it probably wasn't built to digest something like that.

Oh my god

It was going to get SICK and they're going to find his key inside of it and......

Hajime picked up the fish again that was swimming in place in front of him. It was light despite its size, almost like it was completely hollow with no muscle or fat at all.

"I hate you," He said. The pleasant buzz from the alcohol completely gone by now, replaced with a throbbing headache, "I can not even utter in words the hatred inside me right now."

Of course. No response.

"How are you even alive still?" He said, inching his face closer, "How in God's name did you make it this far?"

_Are you going to kill me now?_

Hajime stopped. The voice soothing and calming, yet somehow grating. It's raspiness wrapped around his body and tightened its hold. He wildly glanced around the pond for the source, koi still raised in front of him with extended arms.

"Huh?" He examined the inn door, but nobody was there. A long silent pause stretched out.

"Why would I kill you?" Hajime tried again, searching once more, "Hello? Whose around here?"

_You can hear me? I can't believe it—It's actually you. After all these years......_

Hajime didn't register the sudden change in weight before it was too late. The koi between his hands seemed to enlarge, making him yelp in surprise as it crashed in the water.

He turned away from the inn and searched frantically for the fish below him before it could swim off.

Hajime couldn't look for him long before two thin arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him in. A small shadow loomed over, making him look up towards the source.

It was a stranger. Somebody he most definitely never saw before. His hair was a milky creamy color, not completely white but still pale. Pastel reddish colors creeped at the edge. It looked like a cloud, with its spiraling clumps. Their mouth was a picture perfect Cupid's bow.

They looked angelic, absolutely stunning. Hajime felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes wandered to their's.

Stormy grey and green. Almost unnervingly detailed with a mixture of colors. Familiar.

They let out a wheezing laughter, something that seemed to warm him up from the core out. Hajime blinked a few times as the glamour seem to shimmer away, as his eyes began to trail down.

"I can't believe it. I really can't. Fate really blessed me this time. Gods know Lady Luck hasn't been busy for me for a while."

Hinata felt blood rush to his face at an exceptional speed as his brain short circuited. The man was most definitely very much not clothed.

He felt himself get pushed to the edge of the pond, caged in by the stranger's arms. Hajime opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out.

They leaned in, breath tickling his skin. His eyes only widened with every centimeter of distance that vanished between them. More and more words died in his throat. He couldn't tell if he was paralyzed in shock, fear, or some twisted mix of the two.

"Izuru Kamukura. You've finally come here to kill me, right?"

Hajime Hinata screamed.


	2. Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EY!!!!! Chapter 2 is finally done. It’s so long I decided to split it up into two instead of just dropping a 10,000 word on here out of random. Please look at the updated tags for any cws or tws I’ve added just in case.
> 
> Thanks for the support on this. It will definitely be a nice side project to work on with my other stuff.
> 
> Again, it’s going to be update first, correct later, so there’s going to be grammar mistakes and whatever. Whenever I feel if a chapter is polished to its full potential, I’ll publish it on a wattpad account as well under the same username as on here.

"SOMEBODY HELP—" Hajime finally was able to speak. He thrashed against the larger man, scratching at the stone behind him, They let out a surprised yelp and pulled back, their body collapsing into the water, "SOME CREEP IS TOUCHING ME!"

The aforementioned creep quickly raised his hands in surrender, his eyes widening with his pupils shrinking to small dots. He was quickly shaking his head, giving him a embarrassed stare, a complete difference from the almost sultry look a few seconds ago.

"Please don't yell Master," they murmured sheepishly, collapsing into himself, "I'm sorry I touched you with my disgusting body. I'm just really excited to see you again."

He stopped screeching for a second. Hajime studied over the man, now able to from afar. The once bouncy cloud like hair was soaked, a former shadow of itself. His blush had subdued to a light pink. However, the serene almost terrifying perfection of their face shape remained. Every slight sway of their body felt like a frame of animation, perfected and lined to a detail that would make the most skilled artist scream in envy.

It was terrifying. Too terrifying. Utterly inhuman.

They must've took his stare as anger, because a sputter erupted between them.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I forgot, you go by Hajime Hinata right? In this form I mean," The man seemed scared now. He looked like he wanted to bolt at any second, but was staying still because of some obligation.

"How do you know my name?"

"You said it to that man from earlier. You er...Seemed quite unsure of the title so I could be wrong," An another apology went unsaid.

"But there wasn't anybody else there....Did you overhear us? Were you hiding? Wait—Where the hell is that—"

Hajime stopped.

"You. No. There's," He paused, "No it can't be. That's stupid. That's dumb."

"Master....?" They tilted their head with worry.

"That thing is a fish. You aren't a fish."

"You certainly haven't lost your analysis skills over the years master," They said it so genuinely that Hajime couldn't help but to assume they weren't trying to be sarcastic, "Shape shifting is probably one of the only things I can still do. I really am that worthless, right?"

"You're....."

They smiled, nodding with a soft blush dusted across their porcelain cheeks. The man clasped their hands together as if in prayer and then swayed slowly from side to side, utterly pleased.

"Mmhmm," They whispered, bending towards, "It is really me sir."

Time seemed to still. The crickets chipping ever so softly seemed to silence completely. The water chilled to ice and Hajime couldn't help but for an even colder stone in his stomach drop.

A humming mantra was then murmured after that, so quiet and so gentle that he thought it was the extreme traffic of his thoughts. The man before him was whispering, mouthing words to themselves.

"Say it."

He finally managed to decipher the quick lipped words. So silent, so incredibly pushed back as if it were a curse.

"Say it. Say it."

"Sayitsayirsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayitsayit—"

Questions upon question danced at the edge of his tongue, weighing it down. Say what exactly? His jaw glued shut however at almost every single possible phrase he could've said. However, only one managed to escape.

"Give me back my keys."

"H-huh?"

"My keys," He wordlessly motioned to their stomach, his eyes narrowing to slits, "Give then back."

Their hands dropped down, their hands fell down like limp worn rope. A different silence followed, much more filled with tension then the last.

"You are some magical shape shifter right? So cough it up or something. Shift it out. I don't care. I just need my keys back."

"I can't do that...." He trailed off before his eyes brightened immediately as if realizing something, "The only way you can get them right now is if you gut me."

If he thought they were blushing before, he was wrong. A full on red haze drizzled and bridged across their face. The stormy green masses swirled in what he could best describe as aimless passion.

And were they....drooling?

"And the other way?" He tried.

"Oh," They deflated. Scratching the back of their head, they glanced away from him, embarrassed to make eye contact.

"You have to wait until... Well. Ah. This is embarrassing to say out loud but..."

"But?"

"You have to wait until I well.... Defecate it out."

"You're saying I have to wait until you shit my hotel keys out," Hajime repeated.

"That's quite a crude way of saying that, but yes. I can't exactly...." Komaeda motioned forward with his hands, "Cough it up as you suggested."

Welp.

"H-Hey! Ka-I mean, master!" Hajime began waddling over to the dock, his clothes weighing him down. He didn't even had the care to flinch as the sharp stones poked the soles of his feet, "You can't just leave. Don't you have any questions?"

"I don't need anything right now but a warm bed," He replied, already climbing up the side of the wooden platform, "Or just sleep for that matter. I'm too tired for this."

"But you can't leave yet!" They cried, following Hajime closely behind. He had already pulled himself up and was squeezing out the soaked hem of his shirt. As soon as he saw Komeada try to follow in suite, his face grew bright red.

"You can't come with me you idiot!" He snapped pointing at him with accusation, "You're naked! I don't want to see that shit!"

They quickly fell back into the water, their body now as hidden as it was before. He let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand sir," They raised their quivering voice, "This doesn't make any sense. Why aren't you trying to kill me?"

"Wh-What the hell is wrong with you? Of course I'm not going to kill you," Hajime threw his hands in the air with frustration, "Why would I do that? What sort of benefit would I get from that? I don't even know you!"

They frowned, eyes creasing. Their voice then took a much more serious and confused tone.

"Master, I don't have any right to judge your actions but not killing me at this moment is wasting a perfect opportunity," He motioned his hands to the empty sake glass that had tipped over its contents into the pond, "I'm at my lowest point power wise. You could just kill me with that bottle pretty quickly. And the disposal of the body isn't even an issue since the villagers wouldn't recognize m—Hey?!"

Hajime snatched it from its laid down position on the dock and quickly chucked it over and past the fields.

"Will that shut you up?" He snapped, massaging his back where his bruise finally was starting to loose its numbness.

"Sir! Please you can't just leave me here," They straight up whined the words, desperation clinging like moss on bark. Hajime still managed to ignore it, turning his back, "It was part of the deal right? Right?"

He didn't respond, already making his way off the dock completely.

"Master Kamukura!"

Again. That same name was called out into the night with the same desperation as before. He heard soft scratching on wood after the words, as if they were holding themselves back from climbing the ladder.

He didn't hear the rest of it, as it soon became muffled the further he walked towards the inn.

"I can't hear you so quit talking!" He yelled, no longer caring it he was waking anybody up. He was in a fairly open area anyways, far from the main bulk of the town. The worst he could do was cause a small muffled noise from within the thick walls of the inn. They can yell at him for disturbing the peace after they get rid of the cock-out freak that was calling after him.

Hajime's bare feet finally hit the dirt path that twisted to the entrance of the inn, the small cluster of trees no longer blocking his vision of the building.

He couldn't hear anything from there. The stranger must've grown silent. Hajime honestly couldn't find himself caring. As quickly as he found himself momentarily sobered by the cold water, he almost just as fast found himself lustful for the need to lay down. The alcohol that seemed to vanish rushed to his skull, but leaving an unpleasant pounding headache.

With every heavy step, he found his sight hissing away. Like a small match being exhausted by wind and rain, he kneeled over at the cool stone bricks of entrance.

Without a second thought, Hajime found himself losing consciousness on the inn's doorstep.

Waking up on something that wasn't rock was a pleasant surprise.

Hajime knew as soon as his head laid onto the cool doorstep, he would regret it the next morning. His back always hurt since he started office work. The constant crouching over a brightly lit screen never did wonders for his health.

In fact, waking up in places like this was almost a norm. At least for drunk Hajime. His stubbornness would increase, and his bitter intent to be right dove into the heavens. So of course he had woken up before on cold hard stone after a long hard night of struggling to open his door.

He even mentally prepared himself for the morning afterwards.

Yet.

The surface beneath his hands were soft. Sheets. Bed sheets. He was in a bed, more specifically a futon. The same futon that guided him to unconsciousness a few hours ago.

He sat up quickly, surprised at the lack of hangover. He rubbed the side of his cheek. The place where Komeada slapped with their fins was normal. Not a lump in sight.

So....

Was it all just a dream?

It would make sense frankly. Not a single thing that night could've happened. He doubted. Even with the very real feeling water licking at his sides and the smooth palms of the stranger brushing against him. It had to be a dream. It just had to be.

He rubbed his thighs and winced in pain. He hasn't traveled as much as he did yesterday in years, and it seems his body has finally reached its limit.

Hajime glanced over and let out a short noise of surprise to see his phone completely charged. It seems like past him didn't seem to forget about it.

Clicking the sides, he watch the screen flicker on.

**You have 99+ notifications!**

Hajime gawked in shock, scrolling through conversations that used to remain void of anything. Almost every friend besides Chiaki have sent him sort of message. Either spamming like Ibuki, or just a single long paragraph like Gundham.

Uncertain of where to start first, he decided to go with Sonia, the latest person to send a message.

To his surprise, there wasn't a wall of text like their past chats. Instead, there was a single picture. It was blurry, clearly taken by her usual unsteady hands. Sonia never exactly figured out how the camera of her phone worked, so she always ended up getting a mess of a product instead.

Luckily, the blobs were distinguished enough for him to recognize who was in it. The bright obnoxious pink with the highlighter yellow had to be Souda, while the much more muted pink must be Chiaki.

He squinted further, realizing that the blob Chiaki was much younger. She was wearing the blouse and pencil skirt that she wore when going to work with Hajime, which had to be years ago at this point. There's no way it could've been taken recently.

**Hajime**

_Uhm, why did send me this?_

**Sonia**

_Chiaki showed up to the airport like this! I thought she looked adorable, so I sent a memorial of this occasion to you :) she looks really good in business casual clothes!!!!!!!_

Hajime blinked a few times, trying to process the response. She hated clothes like that. Why would she ride in an over two hour flight with something like that on? And wasn't Hiyoko and Maihiru supposed to pick her up?

Nothing was adding up.

Frantically, he checked every message he got. Every single one of them was the same. They all were pictures of the sender, Chiaki, and one other person in the background.

There were repeats too. He swore he saw Souda at the far corner of one and Sonia in others. It was odd, crazy truly. Did they all really send similar pictures like that by chance alone?

Or......

**Ibuki**

_Ibuki has decided to go karaoke with Chiaki today! Ibuki misses Hajime lots!!!!! DX_

**Mikan**

_Hey hajime. I hope I'm not bothering you, but I thought you might want to hear that me and Nanami are eating out for the first time together in a while. Sorry if I'm blowing up your phone with this._

**Maihiru**

_Since you've probably drank a lot last night (you always do that when on vacations even when the last one you went to was when you were UNDERAGED) You probably won't see this but Chiaki is helping me with my gallery. Thought you might want to see it._

Hajime let his face drop as the same feeling of sadness slowly curled into his gut. He felt his face grow hot with embarrassment at the sudden realization of the type of thoughts that were racing back and forth in his head.

Maybe it was selfish to assume...

But for all of them to suddenly send him messages like this, all with Chiaki in them, right after she landed....Especially when she almost always slept for hours on end after flights......

Were they.....mocking him?

Hajime felt a shortly lived cold sweat trickle down his temples. He knew he was being selfish. Maybe Chiaki just wanted a change of wardrobe that day and simply wanted to hang out with all of his friends. Maybe then by coincidence, they all sent pictures of them.

That had to be it right? There's no way they were trying to hint that they didn't want him right?

**Akane**

_What's up numb nuts! Me and Chiaki are eating out with Mikan rn. Miss u lots bud._

**Nekomaru**

_Chiaki and I went jogging! Take a look!_

Hajime's eyes stung from how close he was staring at the screen. Now Chiaki was wearing athletic gear instead of the business casual attire from the past couple ones.

It's only been a couple hours from when she should've came back. How could she have done so many things? Chiaki was one of the least active people he knew.

This seemed only possible if these pictures were taken on separate days.

Which means......

Hajime clicked his phone off out of a mix of sadness and agitation. He tossed it half-heartily to a discarded pillow across the room, not even flinching when he missed onto the wooden floor.

They were lying.

He shook his head, rubbing at his temples. Thoughts upon thoughts hummed through his head. He wasn't in the mood for this. Far from it.

They were never good at deception. They couldn't even do this simple trick right. They clearly are trying to send a message to him.

They were trying to say he wasn't needed right? That Chiaki doesn't need his apology for what happened the night before.

They weren't that cruel, were they?

No. They weren't. He's known these people for years, and he knows for a fact they aren't the type to pull anything against him malciously.

Even though they all were a rather closely knitted group of friends, they never worked smoothly together. If there was even a small doubt, one of them would diverge from the rest. So if they're planning something...it must've been convincing enough for all of them to simultaneously lie.

Or...Maybe not all of them had lied to him.

He scrolled through the messages one last time, knocking off each person off the list in his mind. Everyone had sent him a message, expect for one person.

Hiyoko.

Their last text was from a while ago. While Hajime considered her a close friend, they didn't exactly have much to talk about over phone. Their conversations were dry; and were just based around scheduling and confirming.

Hiyoko hated lying as well. So maybe....She was the best target.

**Hajime**

_Hey. Is Chiaki okay?_

A knock shook him from his thoughts. He whipped his head towards the sliding door, scrambling towards it. Realizing that the soreness from his back the day before had traveled to his legs, he quickly found himself collapsing onto them.

After a few mintues of struggle, he finally pulled himself up and slammed open the door without a second thought.

"Hey, sorry I was—"

"AAAAGHHH!"

A short lived feminine screamed echoed in his ears. He didn't even have time to process it before hot searing liquid blanketed his body.

"Oh my god—" was all he could hear as his body came crashing down against the wooden floor. He felt his face scrunch up in pain, his body curling into itself. He let out a pained hiss escape before a small shadow casted over him.

"Oh my god, Oh my god. I'm so sorry," Akamatsu whimpered under her breath, a hand tightly clasped over her mouth, "I'm so sorry, I didn't expect you to open the door and..."

Hajime didn't hear the rest. Instead of focusing on the intense glaring pain that was now spread across his chest, he inside decided to distract himself by studying the bowl that had flung across the room now. It was rolling pathetically in a circle, it's shaking pattern ending along with its momentum.

He then glanced down at the burning sensation, to only be greeted with light brown liquid, green onions, and what looked to be white cubes of tofu.

"Miso soup," He said, quietly. Akamatsu gave him a nervous grin.

"Hoshi told me that you were carried in by someone so I assumed it was because maybe you caught a cold....So I thought that might've been a pleasant surprise," She looked down in shame, "It wasn't."

He tried to sit up, but his abs clenched in pain. The groan he let out was barely audible but it was enough for her to suddenly let out a yelp.

"AH—Yes. Why am I rambling. You're hurt! God.." She turned around and grabbed a plastic bottle that had been tossed aside and applied it to his soaked shirt.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so incompetent in the mornings."

"Ah—it's fine."

They both didn't say anything as Akamatsu continued to apply pressure onto his ribs. It was a long awkward silence before Hajime finally spoke up.

"You know I can do that right?"

"Crap! Sorry. I'll get the medkit," Akamatsu bolted up and away, the sound of her feet thumping against the floors was a faint sound in the distance.

With her gone, he finally managed to sit up. The now lukewarm soup trickled downwards, landing in a pool at the bottom of his crotch. The place where he had been burned stung, but the cold water was certainly helping.

The shirt he was wearing was the same as the night before. It surprisingly didn't stink of B.O. to his shock, yet there was an undeniable stickiness to it. He slowly stood up and waddled to his propped upon suitcase and changed. Using the dry side of the shirt that didn't get splashed, he quickly wiped at his stomach as gingerly as he could.

Scrunching up the shirt into a ball, he casually tossed it across the room.

Someone entered his room with quiet soft steps. He turned around to spy Saihara instead of Akamatsu clutching a small white box in his hands.

"Erm. She didn't want to bother you anymore. She's still embarrassed. This never happened before," Shuichi stepped over the mess on the floor.

Hajime wordlessly nodded. He didn't say anything else as they slowly reached to his place next to his suit case and quietly began to work.

The silence was the best definition of awkward, at least to him. Saihara didn't seemed effected by it as he slowly applied the ailment to his chest. Hajime didn't know the first thing about treating a mild burn, so he simply just held his shirt up for him.

"You seemed experienced with this," Saihara hummed under his breath as a short moment of acknowledgment, "Have you done this before?"

"Once or twice yes," He furrowed his eyebrows deep in thought as he shuffled around the supplies inside of the box, "But I usually treat cuts. This is the first time I've encountered a burn in a while."

The silence was a lot more bearable after that. They finished up with a gently applied bandage before standing up, kit in hand.

"You should be fixed up. I don't suggest doing anything that involves moving your torso that much," He motioned his hand towards the splatter near the swung open door across the room, "I'll clean this up personally. You might have to leave your room temporarily if you don't want me intruding your space."

The sudden professional tone pouring from their mouth without the air of shyness from the day beforehand was a change Hajime couldn't say he expected. If anything, he almost expected him to be more embarrassed then Akamatsu was.

"Uh, yes. I was wondering. Do you know any good places to eat? It's lunch right?"

"There's a noodle shop towards the entrance of this town. I'm sure you've seen it on your way here," They replied after a moment, "I'm sure the bakery a few blocks down is open by now as well."

Before he could respond, he was quickly interrupted.

"And if you don't want any of that, we can try cooking something in the kitchen. I'm far from a good cook but I can cook decently enough—And if you don't want that, I'm sure we can find something somewhere. This place seems to get food carts at random from the residents. And if that's not good—"

"Hey. It's okay."

Saihara looked up from his spiraling thoughts with a slightly less worried glance.

"I'm not mad. It was really sweet of her to do that for me. It's mainly my fault for giving her such a scare, alright?" Shuichi's tense posture finally relaxed. Their twisted frown unwinded into a soft smile.

"Thank you sir. Your understanding is appreciated," Hajime weakly waved off his oddly newfound positivity in favor of slipping his shoes on that had been placed across the room. Pocketing his phone, he left the room with a tight lipped smile.

The burn surprisingly didn't hurt much. It only began to stung again once he twisted his sides from a slight stretch of the arms on his was down to the lobby.

He noticed a very flustered Akamatsu bowed down. Her head hung weakly as her hands nervously grappled with eachother under her weight. Hajime wanted to laugh at the sight, her utter awkwardness oddly familiar to his high school years.

Giving her a reassuring smiling, he walked out of the inn.

It was a nice humid although windy day. The same stream of water humming along with the birds scrambled songs were still present from the day before. The surroundings and intertwining dirt bath were the same. Everything was the same.

The eerie trees covering the pond down the road were the same as well.

Hajime frowned, his polite smile from before vanishing. His walking pace stuttered as he studied the split path that led to it.

Did he really want to see that stupid fish after that dream? Did he really? Hajime flicked a piece of hair from his face. Truth be told, he wasn't hungry. Far from it actually. The idea of food wasn't that appealing. In fact, the idea of being anywhere but locked up in his room with him and that client list was far from tempting.

Deciding it was better then nothing, he found his way past the trees and entering the koi pond's dock.

The birds were still singing, but it was hard to hear after entering the thick brush. It was as if he was pushed underwater, only hearing a fragment of what was happening in the outside world.

Wordlessly, he crept onto the dock. It creaked and cooed underneath him, accompanying the rushing water in the distance like percussion.

He glanced down into the soft swirling pool below, peaking through the moss and plants that were protecting its sides.

He was there. The fish was most definitely as big as he remembered. It was swimming in a circle, it's powerful fins seemingly shifting the floating lilly pads with each stroke. Although the size was off putting, it most definitely still a normal koi. Not a single stark naked man in sight.

"It really was a dream after all."

"What was?"

"Holy shit."

Hajime didn't have time to register his emotions before he swiftly shut his eyes, trying to clear away the voice.

"Please don't scream again," Hajime groaned, dropping onto his knees on the dock. He tried to pretend he didn't see the fish from the corner of his eye suddenly stop mid swim to stare at him, but it was too late.

"Are you alright? It's not my place to ask but you seemed unwell. I tried carrying you back but I'm unsure of your actual physical health."

"You were the one that took me back?"

He looked up from his sagged posture to see that yes, it was in fact not a dream. Komeada was nodding from above the water.

"You can talk. To me. As a fish," Hajime said slowly. They positioned their body so their head was bending over in a scarily human like manner.

"Yes! I tried talking to you earlier, but I don't think you heard me. I just knew something was special about you when you watched me yesterday....."

Hajime didn't reply at that. He instead squatted down so he was as eye level as he could with the creature.

"You're a person though," He stated blandly, the gears turning in his head, "How the hell are you...That."

"It's my original form sir. It's the easiest way for me to recharge."

Now that he got a closer look, he noticed that Komeda didn't need to open his mouth to speak. His voice wasn't muffled like Hajime's was. It was as if it wasn't effected from the environment at all.

"That's not answering my question. What the actual fuck are you?"

They didn't say anything back for a while. The fish's entire body seemed to sink deeper into the pond.

"It's quite complicated."

"Whatever. I—It's not important," He stood up, and then brushed off imaginary dust from his shorts, "At leash not right now anyways. Can you change into your. Human? Form? This is a bit awkward."

"Not right now sir. You see, I wanted to take you back but I couldn't really....Do that in my state of undress last night. I had to shift clothing which is quite draining for me—HEY! Master, where are you going?"

"I'm not dealing with this again early in the morning. I'm sure this hallucination will stop when I have something to eat."

"Master. Please. Not again. I know my company is awful and drab and boring and—I know I'm boring but please. Don't leave me alone again. At least let me explain."

He didn't reply for a while, cracking his eyes open from the grimace he molded his face into to see again.

Fish eyes weren't placed the same way people's were, and even if a different color, always seemed like the very definition of inhuman. As a kid, he could even say they scared him slightly before he found out how harmless they were.

Yet somehow the utter grief reflecting in Komeda's was enough for him to complete stop in his tracks.

"Why do you keep calling me that? Master?" Hajime furrowed his eyebrows, "We've never met before and you're acting like this is some kinda of big deal."

He said something wrong apparently because they completely dropped their head underwater, staying silent for a few seconds before responding.

"It's a long story. It's complicated. I don't think I can explain it without explaining other things. Just simply know I am yours to do with."

The ominous response did nothing but worry him further.

"You did say you would....Act differently but I didn't truly believe that. I didn't expect somebody as knowledgeable as you would forget things like this," Hajime tilted his head, "I especially didn't expect you to...Look that..."

"Average."

He sputtered, borderline frantic. His eyes then narrowed. He couldn't believe he was taking offense from a fish of all things. He's dealt with the wrath of Hiyoko Saionji for years and being called average was where he drew the line?

Despite this reassurance, the jab at his appearance stung.

"I still don't get it."

"I'm not surprised," Komeada huffed, "You're technically mortal correct? You must be confused. I truly can't believe you gave up your hope for something so....Boring...But if it's what Master chooses!"

"Excuse me?"

They didn't reply to that, instead, favoring to stretch their long gilled neck above water as far as it could, staring deep in Hajime's eyes.

"If Master Kamukura choose to be in this form, then I have no choice but to accept it fully without hesitation. It is my duty to do whatever you please."

He licked his bottom lip, suddenly feeling dry. Why did he suddenly felt so....heated? Hajime didn't pull back from their unwavering gaze, but he could feel his entire body scream to release from it.

Yet the closer he looked into those swirling pots of sliver, any rejection that danced on his tongue seemed to vanish along with his will.

The long silence made him squirm. It made him want to leave. But he couldn't. For some god forsaken reason, he couldn't. Blood seemed the exclusively travel to his head, making his vision blurry.

"Later."

"Hm?"

"Later. You're going to explain everything....Later. I. You. Well—I don't think..." He trailed off. Hajime tore his gaze away, "I...I need to eat. Food. It's noon, right?"

"I don't really keep track of time here but you should be correct."

"I'm going to come back at sunset and we're going to talk. Not like...This. You have to be human. I'm not talking to a fish."

"Okay," If a fish could smile, Hajime imagined he would be beaming.

"Don't. Don't be weird about it."

"Okay."

Hajime left the dock.

The stand from earlier was much active then before, the steam curling into itself towards the sky was hypnotizing as it rose into the sky. Hajime let his worn body plop on the bar stool of the ramen shop, letting the hot vapor lick at the sides of his face.

After a few mintues, an old familar face stumbled over.

"Hell! What can I get for you today—" They looked up over the bar and met his gaze.

"Oh dear."

"Mr. Ninshin? I thought you were the caretaker of the pond? What are you doing here?"

He scratched the back of his head, blushing in what he could best describe as slight embarrassment mixed with amusement.

"Well you see—"

Their grin turned sheepish in nature.

"I lied about that."

Hajime wasn't exactly shocked but he wasn't unsurprised either.

"You see, I often find myself feeding the fish out of schedule. By my own violation. I've been told not to plenty of times by the actual caretaker and I'm actually not allowed near it but.....I just can't help myself. The poor thing looks starved."

Hajime opened and closed his mouth, unsure of the appropriate response. Luckily, he didn't need to fill the empty air with one.

"That caretaker mind you, probably isn't even feeding it properly. I doubt such a selfish brat could take care of the great Komaeda. The fact the inn is even letting him is a miracle," They sputtered sentence ran on and on, each phrase sounding more and more accusatory then last.

"God, talking about this is getting me riled up. I should stop," They shook their head, "Especially to a customer."

"Oh. Then I'll have erm...." He trailed off, studying the sign above him for answers, "Ramen?"

He inwardly face palmed at his answer. The stupidity almost making him flinch. However, his vague answer seemed to be enough for them. Hajime watched the old man shuffle behind the cloth draped over the entrance of what he assumed what was the kitchen.

They looked dejected and utterly broken. He would've laughed if he had less sympathy.

A notification chimed softly from his phone.

**Hiyoko**

_Wtf_

Hajime sighed, scrolling past the assault of emoticons she sent before that single message. He shortly began typing before being interpreted by a different response.

**Hiyoko**

_Idk ask Chiaki or smthn. ( 'ε' ) wht makes u think I know bt tht crap?_

**Hajime**

_That's exactly why I'm texting you actually. I thought you could pass down the grapevine to her._

**Hiyoko**

_Lmao ╮(︶▽︶)╭ what makes u think I'd do anythin 4 a puke face loser like u?_

**Hajime**

_I'm being serious Hiyoko. I really don't have time for this._

**Hiyoko**

_hajime idc (￢_￢)_

_Im in the middle of sum stuff rn._

_Bother pig barf or whatever._

_Or better yet, apologize to gamer girl for being such a loser._

**Hajime**

_So you know what happened with us last night?_

**Hiyoko**

_Of course I don't lol_

_This was completely by guessing_

_chiaki was all mopey and moody when maihiru and I picked her up. We tried chatting with her about it but she kept ogling her phone._

**Hajime**

_You picked up that much from that?_

**Hiyoko**

_Not that hard if u kno basic geometry_

_(づ￣ ³￣)づ_

**Hajime**

_Can you guys please stop bringing that up? I didn't even know you when that happened._

**Hiyoko**

_listen_

_What I'm trying to say is that Chiaki shouldn't be apologized too over text like i kno u probably did._

_apologies r better in person. Or at least as close to person as possible_

_Since ur lame butt is in some hobo run down village._

**Hajime**

_Thank you._

**Hiyoko**

_Whatever. Don't text me again about this crap._

"Here it is," Hajime jolted from his phone as a large bowl was placed in front of him. He blinked a few times, studying its contents. It was a normal bowl of ramen, thick fatty cuts of pork cutlet soaking into its broth. It did seem to have a severe lack of vegetables however.

He unwrapped the chopsticks and immediately got to work. His stomach that was growing in protest finally seemed to soothe as the first splash of broth hit his throat.

Despite clearly indulging in the meal, Hajime couldn't help to notice that Ninshin was still there, staring into the distance. The two black inky pools finally tore away from him as he walked behind the cloth flaps behind him.

There was a lot to digest here. Hiyoko was the only responsive one, which never happens. Apparently his insecurities about them purposely trying to make him jealous was right, or at least partially so. And he had a meeting with a fish man tonight.

Brilliant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, I know much didn’t happen in this one but the next is where we get infodumped with a few lil bits in there.
> 
> In the mean time, follow my insta @japanbytotoro_nkf (shameless self promoting I know) if you want to see my art for this fic! I couldn’t finish the post I wanted to in time so I can’t link it.
> 
> commenting makes me update faster by the way, I’m a bit of an attention whore.

**Author's Note:**

> Should I continue? I have a whole story planned but idk if this is good at all. If this does well, I might make art for it on my Instagram?


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